MHTri: Just Another Lagiacrus
by LOLzX3
Summary: One year ago, a pair of hunters saved Moga Village by slaying the great Sea King, Lagiacrus. Now, the quakes have returned and a new Lagiacrus has been spotted sunbathing near the D. Island. Unfortunately, of the two Moga hunters, one is deceased and the other is missing. Can a rookie form Pokke Village save Moga form a watery end and find the true source of the trouble?
1. Chapter 1

The first thing he felt was the sea spray. It felt good. The boy stirred and with great effort, lifted his head up. He noticed that there was a gentle rocking underneath him…he was on a boat. The boy was on his way to Moga Village, which he was told was a small and homely settlement off the shore of the Deserted Island. His body buzzed with sudden anticipation. The Hunter's Guild had saw fit to allow him to act as a full-time hunter for the village. For him, it was his first time he was ever assigned somewhere and he was eager to show off what he learned at the training academy back in Pokke Village. The young hunter double-checked his armor and made sure that his newly bought Chainmail set gleamed in the sun. Then he checked the sharpness of his also new Hunter's Knife, which the Pokke blacksmith graciously gave to him as a coming of age gift.

"Hey kid, your destination is coming up fast, we'll be there in about, uh," the sailor checked the wind, "about half an hour, one at most."

"Thank you," bowed the young hunter. He knew that showing respect would usually get you on the good side of a person.

He sighed and carefully stepped into the small cabin which he had left his belongings. There weren't many things. He gently placed each of the old items into a pouch that was just as old. First went in a pair of dual blades, the Bone Scythes, which were wrapped up in Popo fur, symbolizing his beginnings in the small snowy mountain home. Next was an Ancient Potion, which was traditionally passed down within his family to the youngest hunter, for use in times of great danger. Last was a Golden Needle, given to him by the sailor that agreed to transport him to the faraway village. The sailor, whose name sounded something like Gylen or something, told him to sell it for pocket change in case he needed it. He tied the pouch around the belt of his shiny armor and tried to fight the butterflies in his stomach. He hoped that the villagers of Moga were as hospitable as everyone told him.

Junior sighed. The feline next to him scampered away in panic.

_Another earthquake, when will they stop? _He wondered. _I guess I better check out the Guild docks below, hope that they aren't as messed up as last time…_

The hunter felt the quakes even on his boat.

"What… was that?" he asked Gylen.

"Probably just some big-a** monster below us," Gylen replied quickly. He looked worried.

"WELLLLL, I guess we're here, ok-cya-have-fun-byebye-don't-die," the sailor rambled and kicked the young hunter off his boat.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL? WE"RE STILL LIKE A MILE AWAY FROM THE SHORE! I CAN"T SWIM IN CHAINMAIL ARMOR, YOU PIECE OF-"the hunter panicked.

As the boat sailed away, Gylen shook his head.

"Sorry kid, but I have a family and I'm in no mood to die to a godforsaken sea serpent." He muttered quietly.

Swimming in Chainmail armor was like someone taping your arms to your back and telling you to do the monkey bars. It was kind of hard.

Nevertheless, the hunter managed to pull himself up on the sandy beach, panting and cussing. He checked to make sure that nothing was missing, and when nothing was he began to scrub his armor with a napkin tucked in his belt.

_I still hafta look presentable _he though, still genuinely mad at the sailor that ditched him.

After rigorous scrubbing, he finally was able to get the water out of the rings of his chainmail.

"All righty then, rough start but that's-"

He was interrupted by a slumbering Ludroth. Or rather, a slumbering Ludroth's nap was interrupted by a obnoxious hunter clumsily falling over it, and loudly hitting the sandy ground.

"Wow, I just cleaned this armor," he cried in exasperation. But that was the least of his problems. The rather annoyed Ludroth fired a ball of water at him, knocking him over into the sand once again.

_This assignment doesn't exactly the perfect start that I imagined _He thought.

"Everyone calm down, the hunter should be here any minute," the village elder tried to quiet his screaming friends.

"That was the third time that happened!" The Guild girl exclaimed, "If the Lagiacrus keeps it up, we'll all…" She broke into sobs. Voices echoed her worry.

"The Guild won't do anything!" Another man exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're just a bunch of lowlife savages to them!" yelled his supporter. More mad helpless cries added to the general panic.

"Everyone shut up!" he commanded.

"Our hunter is here." He said after a brief pause, pointing at a lone figure walking toward their village.


	2. Chapter 2

"My name is Marcus, I am sixteen years old. I have only recently started my hunting career. Um, I was born in Pokke Village. My favorite food is noodles. Well, I like ramen with meat but y'know vegetables on those noodles are good too…" the young hunter rambled. After a humiliating entry the boy was trying to smooth things out.

The young hunter was still in his uncomfortably damp Chainmail which still had specks of sand over it. He was somewhat red-faced from being chased around by a Ludroth, and his black hair was somewhat messed up from the wind. It wasn't exactly the appearance he wanted to portray to the villagers.

However, the Moga villagers had opposing opinions on his weathered appearance.

"This is our new hunter?"

"He's the one they send to kill a Lagiacrus!"

"He looks kind of heroic."

The village elder sighed and held his hand up as a sign to cease talking.

"Well… young lad, do you know why you were sent here?"

"TO KILL A LAGIACRUS," the hunter barked, then after a moment's hesitation asked, "What's a Lagiacrus?"

The village lder shook his head and took a deep breath.

He smiled a strained smile and began to recite.

"I was once a great hunter, however, like all great heroes, I age. I grow past my prime. So I wanted to settle down somewhere peaceful and with my remaining power, keep it safe." The elder paused with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Isn't that what all of us old coots want? Just… somewhere peaceful and nice to settle. Well, I went and got some resources and build this village with my own two hands, plank by plank." He gestured to the floor Marcus was standing on.

"And I built it! A small, quiet hut, floatin' on top of the water." The Village Elder laughed, but then his face grew sad again. "Well, I got my family to come over as well and we soon ran into a problem."

Marcus interrupted, 'I think I know what you mean."

Marcus sighed and whispered, "The Lagiacrus."

The Elder rolled his eyes. "You idiot, stop interrupting! How do you think that the rest of the village came by? It sprang up from the backs of a Gobul? Jeez, stop messin' up my story. Youngsters, so impatient."

"Anyway, we had meat and wood, but not much else. So my wife decided to invite one of her fishing friends over. And guess what? That fishing lady brought over a clothemaker. Then, we decided that we needed someone who knew how to work metal. I asked one of my old wyvernian friends to come join our family. Then a bunch of felynes wanted to start a farm on this island. Then a trader lady decided to set up an outpost here. Our family grew and grew. Moga Village was known as the fishing village in the big cities. Eventually, the Guild decided that Moga was important enough to leave a Guild Lady and a Hunter here."

The Village Elder smiled and gestured to each of the people standing in the semicircle around Marcus.

"We grew close. But a certain Sea King decided that we were bothering him. He rattled us with earthquakes and towering waves. Luckily, our lone hunter was able to take care of the sea beast with an apprentice native of here. But, dark times befell us. Our great slayer was killed by a Rathian one day, and his apprentice was broken, mentally. The young hunter killed the Rathian that took 'er master's life and ran off. We haven't seen that kid since. Anyway, the Guild never sent a replacement 'cuz there was no trouble after the Rathian was put down. Until now."

Marcus was silent. _So much for happily ever after._

"A new devil spawn has come to our shores. So we asked for a hunter to take care of the blue beast. That's when the Guild sent _you_ in retaliation. A new, untested, greenhorn," the elder almost spat those words with venom.

"I, I won't let you down," Marcus shakily replied. He felt as if there was suddenly a great weight on his shoulders.

"Like hell you won't. But I'm not an idiot. We'll start off small first, then work our way up the food chain. Jaggis, then Ludroths, then Great Jaggis and Barroths."

The Village Elder glared Marcus in the eye, "Yes, you won't fail, because I won't let you fail. I won't let you stand by while the Lagiacrus destroys what I build with my life, what I have left."

The old man got up and began walking away. The crowd parted simultaneously as he walked away from the hunter.

"And never put off what you can do today. WE shall start your training today. With my experience, we may be able to whip you into shape before the Lagaicrus sends this place into the depths."

"What will we do?" Marcus asked.

"First, we find Junior." The elder smiled.


	3. Chapter 3: Lagiacrus

Eon woke with a start. He slowly looked left and right, as if to check his surroundings. Then, he let out a small whine. Eon was in trouble. Ever since the Great Sea Lord had moved into the island, every species were cautious and more aggressive. Even the two-legged murderers began to kill more of Eon's fellow monsters. At the thought of the two-legged, Eon shivered. Life was tough with the Lord around, but it got even rougher when Eon's mother was killed by those two-legged species. Eon could still see the pair that had taken his mother's life. One was brown and the other was slightly pinkish. They wore the dead corpses of other monsters and one of them even had a detached mouth which spat fire. Eon was surprised that they could spit fire. He, like many monsters, could spit a certain element, like lightning. However, the pink-skinned one was able to spit out different kinds of elements and… it was almost like she was magic. Eon's mother used to tell him about how some of those corpse-wearing kind had magic since they had been blessed by the Great Sky Lord, Alatreon, with that power to help others in need. However they got bad and turned on the ones that weren't part of them and… _They kill them_, thought Eon. He shook his massive blue head. The more he thought about the killers, the worse he felt. He looked around again and he froze in fear. _Was that a-? _Upon closer inspection, it was only a Sharq, not one of those killers. Eon roared out a greeting but the Sharq, frightened, swam quickly away. Eon frowned. It was lonely without mother; most of the other monsters were scared of him. He didn't know why, he had never hurt even a Bnahabra! Well, he had eaten his share of Epioths, but that was… nature. At the thought of mother, fear spiked up the blue monster's spine. _What if I'm next? I don't wanna die! _Eon roared in fear and thrashed around. Nearly every monster swam away, terrified, even the Royal Ludroth. Eon began to whimper. If only he had a friend to just talk to him. _Why do I hafta to be a Lagiacrus? Everyone's scared of me…_ Eon felt a ache in his stomach. He sniffed and began to swim. With his sharp eyes, Eon spotted a school of fishes and he dove to them, engulfing the helpless sea creatures in his mouth. After the snack, Eon decided to just swim around. _Maybe the Ludroth will play with me today _Eon hoped. But just like every day before, the Ludroth swam away from him in panic as soon as he thundered his hello. Eon sighed and curled up in a ball, hugging himself as tight as he could. He felt another ache, but this one was from his heart. It was loneliness.


	4. Chapter 4

The hunter burst into the clearing. A startled Aptonoth looked up to see the gleam of the human's sword descending on him. Then it saw no more.

"Yum! Aptonoth steak!" Marcus rubbed his stomach. He began hacking away at the rough skin of the Aptonoth. _It's good to see a familiar face _Marcus thought. The villagers of Pokke Village differed vastly from his past neighbors. The people from Pokke were light-skinned from the snowy weather while the Moga people were dark from their sunny sky. Worse, Marcus learned that the Moga Blacksmith, Wyre, did not know how to craft or repair dual swords, his chosen main weapon. That meant that he had to stick with the standard Hunter's Knife. _Oh well… at least they still have longswords._

When he finished harvesting the Aptonoth, he carefully wrapped up the meat in hardened Kelbi leather, and placed them in his pack. Then, he took out a small notebook.

"Alright then, check on killing an Aptonoth, check on getting meat… next is to find Junior and get to know this island," Marcus read aloud. He grunted and got up. He sighed, "I really wanna explore, but I guess that I should find that kid, Junior, first."

He began to walk toward the Guild Camp, or at least the remains of it. The Village Chief had told the young hunter that he would find his son, Junior, there. That drew a laugh from the Guild Girl, but Marcus just nodded and walked off on his quest.

_I wonder why the Chief let a kid walk off by himself_, Marcus wondered. Then something hit him. _Wait… if the Elder is that old, wouldn't his kid be like an adult? Naw, why would they have called him Junior then? But what if his name was Junior? That's a pretty shi—y name, heh, I would hate-_

Marcus's thoughts were interrupted by a lone figure standing at the docks. He was larger in frame than Marcus and looked more muscular as well.

_Shoot. He doesn't look like a Junior at all…_

Marcus hesitantly called out a greeting. The man turned around and returned it.

His face was tanned like the other inhabitants of Moga, and he had a warm look on his face.

"Ah! You must be the new hunter! Glad the Guild could send a warrior to help us in these times!" the man (Junior?) bellowed as he shook Marcus's hand.

"Uh, thanks. Hunters live to help right? Ma' name's Marcus."

"Well, Marcus," the tanned man said, "You probably have what it takes in you to take out a Lagiacrus, otherwise the Guild would have never sent you! You have my faith at least. Did the Chief tell you about our dilemma?"

_Goddamn it tell me your name,_ Marcus yelled silently. Instead, he said aloud, "Yeah. Um… yeah. A big water lizard is making earthquakes, thus endangering your village, thus the Guild sending me to kill it."

The man (_jeez just tell me your name already!_) laughed and said, "Well, then! I guess I don't hafta explain. But, first do you mind helping us gather some resources to rebuild our village and this Guild Camp? You can't really participate in Quests without this camp."

Marcus relaxed a little. He wouldn't have to fight the earthquake-making thing today. Honestly, he was scared to fight something he had no knowledge of. But he tried to hide the fear and said, "Sure man, I have a feeling I'll be here for a long time." _Hell, dead and buried is a long time…_

The man (still didn't say his name) nodded and said, "Well, then I'll meet you back at the village. Oh and by the way, can you spare some meat? I'm starving."

Marcus smiled and nodded, handing over a wrapped piece of Aptonoth meat.

"Great! Now I, Junior-er, the Village Chief's son, will bestow on you this as a gift."

_Finally, he told me his name…he definitely doesn't look like a Junior._

Marcus took a bundle form Junior. They were roughly the length of his upper torso and were bound by some vines.

"It's a BBQ stick, if you get hungry you can cook some meat on it," Junior explained.

"Thank you. I think I'm going to spend the rest of this day exploring this island, if that's okay with you guys."

"No problem. Anyway, I, Junior-er, the Village Chief's son, will see you at the village."

"Sure…Junior," Marcus laughed.

_Dang… what if I let all these people down?_

_This Lagiacrus seems ferocious. Plus, I've never fought one before._

_Hell, the most dangerous thing I've ever taken down is a Bullfango, and even that took me nearly an entire day. Even then the Bullfango died of blood loss._

_No, I can kill this Lagiacrus. This will be for Moga Village, my new home._

_Dang, I am a greenhorn. Wonder why they sent me here. I mean I can literally count my kills on my fingers. Three Aptonoths, two Popos, one Bullfango, and three Giaprey. Not exactly impressive…_

_But I'm sure the Guild officials know what they're doing._

_They wouldn't just send a hunter to his death, would they?_


End file.
